Archive for the ‘Fundraising’ Category

I’m in training to run my first marathon in April and I’ve just reached what feels like a very significant milestone: on Friday, I ran 14 miles for the first time, the furthest I have ever run. One of the most surprising things is that it didn’t feel that big a deal when I was running it, it just felt like a natural progression from what I have been doing up until now. Which, to be fair, was exactly what it was. The other thing that has really surprised me about my training so far is how much I’m enjoying it. When I have trained for half marathons in the past, the longer distances have always felt tough and something of a chore and I often experienced something of a love/hate relationship with training and running in general at those times.

So what has changed? I guess that I’m probably fitter than I have ever been, I’ve been running four times a week since mid-November and I’ve been clocking up a fair few miles: 100 miles during December and I’m already over that figure for January. I’ve also taken nutrition and hydration more seriously, which has helped. But much more than this, it’s the social aspect of running which is making me enjoy the training more this time around. Firstly, because the marathon is a joint endeavour with my fantastic friend Flora and we are really sharing the experience, through meeting up for runs in different parts of the country, texting, chatting, emailing and generally supporting each other every step of the way. That’s made a huge difference to how I’m viewing the journey and the prospect of the marathon itself.

Secondly, I’ve made so many new running friends. I had tried running with the local club before, but it had never quite clicked for me. This time though, I took what felt at the time like the very brave step of joining the small Friday morning spin-off group of the running club, which was mostly made up of retired or semi-retired older men! I can honestly say it’s been the most brilliant running group I could have hoped for – supportive, encouraging, fun, generous in sharing their experience (there are a couple of serious, serial marathon runners amongst them), sociable and inspiring. We also follow up our runs most weeks with coffee and cakes at the local café…what’s not to like?! As the group has grown, it has also in turn led me to new friendships, adventures and experiences and challenged me in different ways, whether that is running faster or further than I imagined, or simply on different terrain. Sure, there are still days when I don’t really feel like going for a run…but those days are not frequent, and the fact that there is usually someone waiting for me so that we can run together, means that I don’t think too much about it and just get going.

It’s easy to look at other people and worry about the fact that they seem to be running further, faster, better than you. Chances are that there are just as many who have not done as much training, have run fewer miles at a slower pace…it’s just that you don’t notice them so much! At the end of the day though, it really doesn’t matter and you only ever train for and run your own race, nobody else’s.

Last week I was fortunate enough to hear Debra Searle MBE speak at our staff conference and there were two particular aspects of her talk that particularly resonated with me. Firstly, that whatever else is going on and however tough things seem, you can always make the effort to choose your attitude towards it and decide the reasons why you are choosing that frame of mind. This is something that I am definitely starting to consciously do, both when I run and when I am doing other things

Another pearl of wisdom from Debra was around comfort zones and how, when you are operating outside of your own, they do not remain rigid, rather they start to shift towards you and what seemed impossible, becomes eminently doable and no longer seems scary. For a long time I thought running a marathon would be beyond me; now I simply feel pleased and proud that I am progressing towards that goal and working to make it a reality. That really is something to celebrate :).

So, that’s my training update! Flora and I are raising funds for Mind and the MS Society with our marathon and if you would like to sponsor us, you can find the link here. Thanks so much for all your support.

PS. The picture at the top is Flora and I after having run a very muddy, wet 12.5 miles together at the beginning of January. We are due our next run together this weekend, which will be 16 miles in the New Forest :)

Yesterday, I ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon in aid of Mind. I wrote about the different motivations and beginnings of this decision here. Many people have asked me how it was, and in truth, it was mixed. I am hugely proud of one part of my achievement and far more ambivalent about another part of it…and it is perhaps at this point in time, of reflecting upon what I’ve learnt, that helps me to better understand the complexity of my motivation for doing the run and what, after all, matters most.

The running itself is only one part of this story, but it matters to me enough to explain the context. The first time I ran Royal Parks Half last year, I had been running for only four months and I had no expectation of a finishing time, my goal was to simply complete it with a smile on my face and joy at having done what I had set out to do. And I did – I ran it in 2 hours 17 minutes, was elated at having achieved my goal. I followed this up by running a hilly (and freezing!) half marathon in Tunbridge Wells in February, where running with some speedier friends, I completed the course in an exhausting but wonderful 2 hours 4 minutes. This, of course, is what set my context for this weekend’s half marathon: I wanted to better my personal best, continue improving, even though I knew how hard it had been to run the distance in that time previously.

In the event, I ran this weekend’s half marathon in a respectable 2 hours 10 minutes, which is OK but not amazing. Yes, it was hot, yes it was crowded with thousands of other runners, but in truth the most important element for my learning was that it was consistent with how I had trained. I did entertain an aspirational hope that I might have squeezed in under the 2 hour mark…but to do that, I would have had to have run the fastest 5k and 10k that I have ever knowingly achieved…and then maintain that pace all the way round! So, it would always have been a stretch. On reflecting upon this now, I realise that if I really want to get faster at running, I have to practise running more quickly at the shorter distances and build up from there. There are many parallels to this in life, as well as in business…that would be a whole post in its own right!

The running itself was only ever one part of the story though…my biggest privilege was running with this on my back:

It is this that, for me, puts everything else into perspective and makes me enormously proud of what I did yesterday. Roger was a better runner than I will ever be…he was one of these extraordinarily fit people who ran marathons and frequently went out running with bricks in his rucksack to challenge himself further. Whilst running yesterday, I thought of him often: how amused he would be that I had taken on the gauntlet of running for him, rather than my lovely husband, how chuffed he would be to know that I have so far raised £755 plus gift aid for Mind in his memory and how he would be genuinely amazed and touched that 11 years on, we still love and care and think about him as much as we do. For my part, I wished I had known him better and for longer, wished he was still with us today to chat things over with…but it was special to be able to honour his memory in the way that I was able to yesterday.

So, how was it? Physical and mentally tough at times, long, hot, tiring, exciting, rewarding, inspiring…and a privilege to do it in the memory of those who are no longer able to. All in all, pretty amazing!

I also had some fantastic supporters in the shape of Jon Bartlett and Charlie Elise Duff who came along to watch and cheer me on, which I appreciated hugely!

If you would like to retrospectively sponsor me and donate to Mind, you can find my sponsorship page here. Any amount, large or small will make a difference to the excellent work that Mind do. Thank you!

This blog post is far from neat or conventional in the usual rules of beginning, middle and end. It seems to me that there are at least three different beginnings to the story that I want to share with you, the middle continues to be a work in progress and the end is far from known. Many of the pieces of this jigsaw may already be familiar to you, so forgive me for restating them.

The beginnings are these…

In January 2002, my brother-in-law committed suicide. None of us knew at the time that he was depressed or suffered any mental health issues. I wrote about his story here.

In January of this year, I published this post as part of the Advent and New Year series, written by Jon Bartlett, which caused huge waves in the HR community about the topic of mental health and what we as HR professionals could do about it. This led to the 25% Club series of posts of individuals sharing their experiences of suffering mental health conditions, an HR for Mental Health event with Mind Charity, organised by Jon and a much more open dialogue on the topic of mental health.

This time last year, I was training for my first half-marathon, having not run at all previously. It was a huge deal to me, uncertain as I was as to whether I would achieve the goal which at the start had appeared reckless and unattainable. I did it and was delighted.

Right now I am again in training for the Royal Parks Half, which takes place on the 6th October. This time I am running for Mind and I really want to raise as much money as I can for them, as it is such a brilliant cause. Because of my brother-in-law and because of the increased understanding that I have gained this year of mental health and the work that Mind do, it means a huge amount to me and I would love it if you could support me and them.

This will be my third half-marathon in a year and I am still waiting to discover the magical point of when the training becomes easier, or perhaps more accurately, when it becomes easy…but given that the three or four training runs I do each week still frequently feel tough, I don’t think that will happen anytime soon! That’s OK..I know I’m not alone on that one ;).

If you would like to support me and donate to Mind, you can find my sponsorship page here.

The wonderful Simon Heath (@SimonHeath1) has made a brilliant and very generous offer to create a bespoke piece of artwork by means of a blind auction in aid of Mind. Please have a read, take part in the auction and support this fantastic cause.

I will definitely be making a bid and keeping my fingers crossed…he’s one VERY talented man!

This blogpost has been written to draw your attention to a blind auction of a bespoke piece of artwork. But first I want to give you some background. I urge you to follow the links so you can understand why this important effort deserves your support.

A few months ago, a very brave friend of mine, Jon Bartlett (@Projectlibero over on Twitter), took to the floor at an event under the banner HR For Mental Health (@HRforMH on Twitter) and talked candidly about his struggle with his condition. More recently he has guest blogged for Mind, a leading mental health charity. It’s worth stating here their vision and mission:

Mind’s vision
They won’t give up until everyone experiencing a mental health problem gets both support and respect.

Mind’s mission They provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They campaign to improve services, raise…

While you were sleeping, I was walking. Last night, I walked 26.2 miles with 17,000 other women and a few brave men in the London Moonwalk. I started before midnight and finished at around 7am, taking just short of 7 hours 20 minutes.

While you were sleeping, I saw amazing sights. The entire marquee of friends and strangers holding hands to mark a minute’s silence for the three women who had signed up for the London Moonwalk and died before last night arrived. Enormous numbers of incredibly decorated bras and proud, resilient, determined women walking through the night for a cause they are passionate about. I saw pain, sadness and remembered grief, mixed with laughter, joy, hope, excitement and tenacity. I saw volunteers working tirelessly through the night to encourage and cheer on the walkers. I saw the very, very best of the human spirit and our commitment to help and support others. I saw children too young to understand what cancer does to people and elsewhere shadows of grief and fear where it had already done its worst. I saw people, who thought they had already given all that they could, find new reserves of energy, hope, support, love, gratitude and sheer bloodymindedness to get them through and continue trudging onwards to the finish.

While you were sleeping, I was walking. My low point was surprisingly early on, when my muscles started to ache at 8 miles and I was seriously considering changing to the half marathon route instead of completing the full marathon. Luckily, the aches didn’t get worse and I enjoyed the second half of the route more than the first; partly because the sun came up, mostly as a result of the crowds of walkers finally thinning out and enabling us to walk at our chosen pace. My highlight was walking across Tower Bridge at around 21 miles, when the sun had come up and the views across London were spectacularly glorious. What a fantastic reminder that to walk a marathon throughout the night is a privilege, an honour to be sufficiently healthy and well to raise money for those brave and amazing individuals who aren’t.

While you have been going about your day, I’ve been catching up on some much-needed sleep! My legs ache, my feet are a little sore, but I am immensely proud and pleased with how it went…and more than a little relieved to have completed it!

Huge thanks to those who have already donated. If you haven’t yet and would like to, my sponsorship page is here. The team is chuffed to bits that we have already raised over £5,000, which will makae a huge difference.

As part of our corporate social responsibility activity, Informa partners with the Prince’s Trust, a brilliant organisation that makes a huge difference to the lives of the one in five young people in the UK who are not in work, education or training. This year for the first time, some of our employees have taken part in the Million Makers challenge, forming three teams that have come up with a business plan, secured seed funding and are currently competing to raise the most money for The Prince’s Trust through their own enterprises.

Over the next few days I will be running a series of blogs featuring these three teams and the fantastic and inspiring projects they are running to raise money. I’m immensely proud of all of them for the hard work, dedication, determination and innovation they have demonstrated…all on top of very busy day-jobs!

The first team to be featured is Hour Manchester…and excitingly, I also have a free copy of their beautiful book to give away…! It’s only fair to let them describe their product and experience in their own words –

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‘Hour Manchester’ is a hardback reprographic book published in the spirit of The Prince’s Trust ‘Million Makers’ challenge, aiming to raise £10,000 for the charity. In order to put this book together we held a photography competition to capture and record images of Greater Manchester, its people, its community and its soul over a period of 24hrs. Ninety six of the winning entries have been published in the book, all sale proceeds of which will be donated to The Prince’s Trust.

Along the way we received a great deal of support from our company Informa, as well as local businesses and sponsors. We also managed to get a few celebrities involved in the project, including Marc Riley (BBC Radio 6), John Robb (Louder Than War) and Mary Anne Hobbs (Xfm). But the turning point, we believe, was getting some high-profile judges on board to help us choose from the hundreds of entries we received, ones that really stood out. Kevin Cummins – a professional photographer renowned for his work with rock musicians and bands – and Helen Wewiora – a visual arts officer at Arts Council England – both agreed to help us make a selection of 9 images that deserved some extra attention. Their input has been priceless to us and the people who have been selected.

Which is why this book is a promise of stunning and striking photographs that record the everyday lives of Mancunians. We believe the finished ‘Hour Manchester’ book is an innovative collection of iconic Manchester images seen through the eyes of the people that live in this vibrant city. And it just happens to be an amazing Christmas gift idea that is not only unique but would also help the underprivileged young people that The Prince’s Trust supports. If you would like to purchase a copy go to our Just Giving page and make a donation of £15 and we’ll send you your very own copy!

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In order to enter the competition to win one of these very special books, please leave a comment below, stating what you love most about the city of Manchester. The competition will remain open until the end of Tuesday 27th November and will be judged by our very own Hour Manchester team, who are far more qualified than me in the topic of their home city!

To give you a flavour of what is in the book, have a look at this homemade, very lovely video…

And here are just a few of the many excellent entries received…

So, what are you waiting for? Enter today for your chance to win this very special book. All proceeds go directly to the Prince’s Trust.